Bhim Army chief invites Maya for talks, BSP rejects offer

In a surprise move, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad aka Ravan has written an open letter to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati, who has described him

In a surprise move, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad aka Ravan has written an open letter to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati, who has described him as a BJP agent in the past, and has invited her to a discussion to ‘further strengthen the Bahujan movement and its unity’.

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The BSP, however, rejected Chandrashekhar’s appeal, and a senior leader, who did not wish to be named, termed the Bhim Army chief’s letter a ploy to create confusion among the Dalits.

In the four-page letter which he posted on the social media, Chandrashekhar offered to talk about the need to protect ‘Bahujan people’ from the growing strength of the BJP and the weakening of the ‘Bahujan movement’ in the country.

“Leaving our differences aside, we have to sit together in the larger interest of ‘Bahujan (movement)’ and the country because conversation paves the new ways to resolve problems,” he said.

Chandrashekhar also wrote: “It is essential now because the weakening Bahujan movement is casting ill effects on the people of the Bahujan samaj. The government is continuously attacking their constitutional rights. We need to reply to them, which is possible only by reviving ‘Bahujan unity’. Being a member of the core team of Kanshiram (BSP founder), your vast experience is important for all of us. I hope you will spare some time to be part of this conversation.”

“The country is looking towards those ideologies and groups which could fight the BJP and the Bahujan ideology is one of the important ones among them. This ideology is capable of giving a befitting reply to casteist and communal forces and to establish a factual democracy in the country,” he said in the letter.

Giving a reason for the rejection, a BSP leader said Mayawati had already stated that if the Bhim Army leadership or other Dalit organisations were really interested in empowerment of the community, they should work under the banner of the BSP to take forward the movement launched by Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and Kanshiram.

He also said the BSP had already launched an awareness campaign in the Dalit-dominated areas to counter the Bhim Army’s propaganda.

Mayawati was the tallest Dalit leader who had not only devoted her life to the uplift of Dalits, but also the members of the community considered her as their role model, he said.